Aaaaah, Tuesday...

Quite a bit has happened since my last post.
1. I got accepted for Fall semester...that means I graduate in December.
2. I took my Botany Midterm...from what I've heard, most of the kids were averaging in the mid 60's range...I got an 86. Woo hoo! I have another midterm tomorrow for my Botany Lab...ugh. Hope I do well.
3. My husband has "permitted" me to participate in a quilt along and it's coming along great. I'll post pics later.
4. We have tomatoes! Our plants are actually fruiting right now...so excited. Also, the married student gardens have been planted and things are looking promising...especially onions.
5. We've been trying the 1 Bag 5 Dinners thingy from Kraft. It's pretty tasty. We make a few substitutions to make it healthier. And Matt likes that we've been coming under budget for groceries.
6. We made our own laundry detergent on Sunday...tried it yesterday. It works...soft clothes that won't make us itch. (I think Matt has an allergy to most soaps) I have to be careful though...apparently this laundry detergent doesn't suds as much as the commercial detergents. So when Matt did a load of laundry he kept adding more and more detergent trying to get it to suds. (sigh) What am I going to do with him? But, hey, at least I got him to do laundry, right?

If you're interested in making your own detergent:
1 bar of Fels Naptha, Zote, or Ivory soap...grated
2 gallons boiling water
2 c baking soda

Put the grated soap in a saucepan over med-low heat with enough hot water to cover. Stir frequently until melted. Pour into large bucket and add two gallons of boiling water. Stir well. Add baking soda and stir well. Put in clean container. The directions say to use 1/2 c for each load, but I don't use that much. I might be a little lumpy...don't worry, it'll still work fine.

We also made our own oatmeal soaps last week, which Matt seems to like. We melted down some bars of Castille soap (for sensitive skin) and then added oatmeal and then poured it into muffin tins. It's not half bad. We might have to get some real soap molds if this strange obsession continues.

On a side note...don't take a basic sewing class from the school. You'll learn much more just on the internet. We've been making blouses in class (started with pillowcases, moved to PJ pants, and now the blouses). So my teacher takes one look at me and tells me to make my blouse a few sizes smaller so it'll fit in the shoulders and tells me that we'll adjust the rest to fit my bust. So I did. I let her slash my pattern to bits and pieces and move my darts and everything because she said she knew what she was doing.

I finally assembled my shirt. Guess what. I can't close the darn thing. It's too small. Won't fit around my bust. She suggested taking out the darts to maybe loosen it up a bit. I told her that wouldn't help, but she told me to anyhow. Guess what...didn't help. I still can't close the darn thing. So my final grade is based upon whether or not I can wear the garment. I can't wear it. So I won't get a very good grade. And because she slashed my pattern, I need to buy a new one ($10). And because she didn't think I would need a mock-up, I've also ruined my fabric ($10).

Lessons Learned: Don't listen to her. And make a mock-up to make sure it fits well BEFORE using the good fabric. It might have been easier to cut out MY size and just reduce the shoulders rather than the other way around. She's not allowed anywhere near my clothes anymore.

Oh well...at least I learned something, right?